Tesla's Companion
by YokoFiona
Summary: Nikola Tesla, loner vampire,saved a girl from muggers out of the goodness of his heart. Soon he's dragging her along on his travels including all his interactions with Helen Magnus. Of course she's not exactly normal either. Slight HP, no main chara.
1. Meeting Nikola and Alice

It was a rainy April day in Prague, few people mingled in the usually crowed streets. Among them walked an oddly dressed young man, whom a few tourists swore was a living history actor.

The young man was in actuality the genius Nikola Tesla, inventor of alternating current and the mastermind behind the worlds electric grids. Naturally this genius had little to do if he was wandering the streets of Prague without an assault by the abnormal hoarding Cabal. Normally Nikola's mind would be filled with various plots to resurrect the pure blooded vampires and take over the world.

But that rainy April day his head was filled only with Helen Magnus. She had refused his feelings in favor of John Druitt. That useless druid had claimed beaten him to the one prize he truly desired. Nikola reasoned with himself that Helen was truly only a distraction from his work, while his heart told him that Helen was the key to making his plans come to fruition.

Tesla was removed from this thought process by a scream. He ran towards what appeared to be the source to find a young woman being mugged by three young men with stockings pulled over their faces.

"You lot!" he yelled, "Get away from here". Nikola's eyes leaked from a iced grey to inky black, his nails began to elongate, and the air around him crackled with electricity.

The men saw this and ran fearing that Nikola was undead. And he technically was, but that fact was beside the point. The girl simply collapsed into a puddle of rainwater, still overwhelmed by what had just occurred. Nikola walked to her and helped her up.

"May I know the name of my rescuer?" the girl asked first in Czech then again in English.

"My name is Nikola, now can we move the conversation to a place that isn't as wet?" he responded. The girl nodded her head and with Nikola's help lifted herself out of the puddle.

Nikola led her back to the hotel he was staying at under an assumed name. She marveled at the hotel's splendor and began to wonder how a man so young could afford a room in this marvelous hotel. Nikola looked backed at the girl and smiled. He was used to people being amazed with his lifestyle. His room was no less stunning, it was one of the larger suites with a canopied king sized bed, and Jacuzzi tub in the marble covered bathroom.

"Now I believe introductions are in order." Nikola said sitting down in the wing-back chair near the cherry wood Armour.

The girl looked hesitantly at Nikola, "So, this is normal for you, bringing strange women to your hotel room?" she asked avoiding his eyes.

"Only one in need of assistance and I do make a habit of learning their names." Nikola answered his eyes narrowing, "now you know my name, I would like very much to know yours."

He looked her over for the first time that evening. She reminded him of Helen Magnus in many ways. She had mid back length brown hair, and a short yet full figure. The only differences were her green eyes, that reminded him of emeralds.

"I'm Alice, Alice O'Connell," she said.

"So Alice, why don't you get cleaned up and I'll see if the hotel has any dry clothes you can wear. Alice nodded and headed to the bathroom with her eye on the tub. As she left Nikola called the front desk to request some ladies clothes be brought up. Once he was down he lay back on the bed and wondered what he had done saving Alice.

Normally he would have kept walking ignoring human beings, but something about her. He was drawn out of his thoughts for the second times that night by a knock at the door. There was one of the housekeeping staff with a pile of clothes in their arms. He took the clothes, and thanked the women before closing the door. As he set the clothes down on the bed he heard the bathroom door open and Alice stood there in a terry cloth robe beet red.

"I'm sorry, I thought you might have gone out," Alice stammered. Nikola snickered.

"That's alright, I'm just going to enjoy the view for a while,". Alice turned an even deeper shade of red and Nikola's snicker turned into a full blown laugh.

"Stop laughing." she shouted out him. He kept at it, looking square at her face. He noticed the light red color leaking into her irises.

"Calm down I was only joking," Nikola said walking over to Alice handing her the clothes. "Now get dressed," he whispered into her ears.

Alice walked back into the bathroom with the pile of clothing and place it on the counter before staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were returning to their normal greenish color. She hated herself when this happened. It was like she was her own version of the Hulk. When she got angry, she blew up, most of the time the focus of her anger didn't survive.

But now she was just confused, this handsome man had rescued her. This brown haired, grey eyed, enigma had chosen to help her. She knew that she didn't deserve to be saved at she inspected herself. Her brown hair lay flat for the first time in months and the roots were still blood red. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and put on the clothes. She looked at her reflection and was stunned. Only at a hotel this posh would they bring up a negligee to sleep in and a sun dress for the next day.

Nikola looked away from the newly turned on TV when the bathroom door opened again. Alice emerged in the robe obviously uncomfortable with whatever clothes had been brought for her.

"Can I see," he asked testing the waters.

"Absolutely not," she stammered.

"Again with the shyness, let me see," Nikola said moving closer to Alice.

\"I hardly know you, so no," she answered pulling the robe closer to herself.

"My name is Nikola Tesla, I'm `144 years old, and I'm half vampire." he said moving closer to her. Alice stared at him as he moved so close she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Okay, say I believe you, now what?" she asked placing her hand on his cheek to move his face a safer distance from her.

"So, now I get to hear about you, because after you share we'll know each other and I'll get to see under that robe you're wearing." Nikola whispered intent on watching the ever changing shade of her face. Alice paled this time as to changing shades of red.

"You know my name isn't that enough?" she asked in such a whisper that Tesla had no choice but to lean in again.

"No, I told you the truth, now I want to hear yours, or you might just become my dinner," he answered allowing his teeth to elongate and look menacing. Once again Alice moved her hand gently to his face and pushed it farther away from herself.

"As long as you never tell anyone..." she trailed off walking to sit on the side of the king sized bed. Nikola nodded and moved to sit down in the wing backed chair once more.

"You already know my name is Alice O'Connell, I'm approximately 24 years old, and if you believe it, I'm what they call an elemental." she said turning her gaze from that of Nikola.

"So you're an abnormal?" he questioned.

"Not entirely, technically I'm a witch from the British Wizarding Community who happens to have extra abilities." Alice said moving her hands as she talked, "And I will have you know I just broke about five laws by telling you that.

Nikola stared at her. "What you're a bloody vampire, is it so crazy to think there are witches and wizards out there?" Alice asked before throwing herself back on the bed.

Nikola continued to stare at this girl. Helen would like to have her, but right now he wasn't in the mood to give his new plaything over to her.

"So if you're part of this wizarding society, why are you here?" Nikola asked deciding one more probe would be okay.

"I'm different, that bigoted world doesn't like different. Its a place where elementals are seen to be lower than even vampires." Alice said staring at the ceiling trying to count the number of times. Nikola sat there and stared at her. A few minutes later he realized that Alice had fallen asleep on top of the sheets. Nikola Tesla, the anti-humanity electric vampire felt something toward the girl.

Alice woke up under the soft sheets of the bed. She groaned and rolled over desperate to block out the sunlight.

"Alice, you need to get up before housekeeping gets the wrong idea," a smooth male voice whispered in her ear. Alice rolled over to see Nikola leaning over her with another of those sly smirks on his face.

"I'm afraid that they already have the wrong idea." she answered sitting up slowly. A chill blew past her arms and she shivered.

"You pervert!" she yelled. Nikola smiled softly, he'd definitely be keeping her around.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all, read and review please, flames unwanted but welcome. I sort of want to know if I should keep working on this idea...-Fiona


	2. Meeting Helen

Chapter 2

A/N: yay chapter two. Read and Review. I want at least a review before I start chapter 3 please!

* * *

Alice strolled around Rome without a care in the world. Traveling with Nikola had been some of the best times of her life. However, she was beginning to wonder what he was up to. Tesla had the two of them moving all over Europe as if they were tracking something. Rome was their third stop since Prague and Alice felt that the constant moving was getting a little old.

Normally they would stay in an up-scale hotel for around week or so. The concierges all thought they were married and housekeeping always gave the pair the oddest glances. Normally he would take her around the cities they were in, showing her all of the sites with the most annoying smirks spread across his face. Of course she had shown him some of the magical pieces of the world, but those paled in comparison to some of the gems he'd shown her in Vienna and Munich.

Today, she was alone, Nikola had left sometime that morning. She had asked the concierge where Nikola had gone and had been met with odd looks. Apparently he was tromping around some of Rome's catacombs. So Alice was on her own today. But something had been bugging her, a sort of a nagging feeling. So she raised her hand a little and cast a simple point-me spell wandlessly. The spell pointed straight down.

Alice sighed and concentrated for a moment on Nikola's face and out dated navy suit. She heard the distinct pop that came with magical transportation and opened her eyes to see Nikola's face only a few centimeters before her.

"Nikola?" a distinctly feminine voice questioned from behind her.

Alice balanced herself and smirked at Nikola. "Did I disrupt something Nikola?" she asked coping his normal sarcastic style.

"Yes, actually, you did. How did you get down here," he responded as if nothing was wrong.

"I am a witch you know, magic has a spell for everything..." she answered before being forcibly turned around to face the other person.

"Helen be nice, Alice doesn't like being manhandled, except by me." Nikola said to the women. Alice rolled her eyes and looked at the women standing in front of her. They could have been siblings. The resemblance was uncanny, except of course for their eyes.

"Alice O'Connell, Nikola Tesla minder," Alice said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Helen half smiled at the look on Nikola's face that Alice couldn't see.

"Helen Magnus, Sanctuary Minder," Helen responded. Alice smiled at her.

"Now would you kindly tell me how you got down here?" Helen asked returning to all seriousness, after all the Cabal was still on their trail.

"A spell that compresses all the molecules in the human body and then decompresses them in a desired location."Alice explained.

She had learned from trying to explain magic to Nikola that scientific terms worked best. Magnus looked a little shocked.

"How is this accomplished?" she asked. Alice turned around to see if Nikola minded her explaining magic to this women, he shook his head.

"Now now Helen, you wouldn't want to ruin a surprise now would you?" he said flashing another of his trademark grins. Helen rolled her eyes.

"How many projects are you really working on Nikola?" she asked.

"Just one," he answered. Suddenly a rumbling was felt throughout the catacomb.

"Earthquake?" Magnus asked.

"No worse," Nikola exclaimed shoving her out of the opening. Alice quickly cast a wandless protego to protect herself from whatever was coming.

"Oh Nikola," Magnus said walking toward the immortal in the initial aftershock of the blast.

Alice turned around and wanted to cry. There was Nikola Tesla impaled on a wooden stake, a wound that would have killed a vampire in the wizarding world. Then again, the two of them had already had that conversation, in which Nikola had explained that pure blood vampires were wiped out around the time the wizarding world was being downsized.

"Nikki!" she shouted.

"Calm down, immortal remember," Tesla said pulling himself off the stake and dusting his clothes as the wound began to heal. Alice walked up to Tesla and slapped his. Her eyes were fire red by that point and red color was leaking into the roots of her hair.

"Don't you ever pull something like that again, or so help me Merlin!" she yelled at him.

Helen Magnus stood back and observed this seemingly average girl yell at the immortal Nikola Tesla. She understood now what Alice meant by Tesla Minder, she kept him in line/ lessened his reckless behavior. The question then became who was this girl who showed no fear or admiration in front of someone most people would be overwhelmed at meeting.

Soon after the blast, the trio was off moving quickly down the passages in hopes of finding an escape from the catacombs. Of course Alice could have apparated them all to safety, but she was by no means comfortable with the idea of a double side along apparation and making a port key without authorization was worth a year in Azkaban. So they ran. At one point the group turned a corner and were ambushed at a squad of three men. The first hit Magnus with the butt of his gun stunning her temporarily. The second went after Alice, and in seconds was reduced to a pile of ash. The third went after Nikola, who subsequently killed the man.

Alice had seen this happen before and turned to leave the general area.

"Alice, you're missing the best part." Nikola said. She ignored him and continued walking away as Nikola debuted his vampire minion project with Magnus.

Soon afterwards Alice heard a pop not unlike her own apparation pop and moved toward Nikola to see that Magnus was no longer there. Nikola's minions were also dead, which made Alice feel a whole lot better.

"So your little show and tell didn't go over so well with the teacher did it Nikola?" She taunted feeling the need to downsize his ego.

Next thing Alice knew she was begin pushed up against a wall with a black eyed Nikola staring back at her.

"Don't you dare insult a superior race human," Nikola said exposing his elongated teeth to her for the second time since their meeting.

Alice rolled her eyes again, "Remember Nikola, I'm not entirely human either," she said and he slowly returned to his regular state.

"Don't do it again," he snarled turning away from her and walking toward the supposed exit.

"Well I'm sorry, something just felt off!" she yelled running down the corridor to catch up with the cheetah speed walk Nikola was implementing.

* * *

_**U.S. Sanctuary**_

Helen Magnus was sitting behind her desk as Will Zimmerman and Henry walked into her office. She closed the report she was working on and looked up.

"Henry, I need you to find out everything you can about one Alice O'Connell," she said curtly. Henry nodded, but stayed feeling that there was more to the statement.

"And Will, I need you to get in contact with your friends at the FBI, see if they have anything on her," The two nodded, but only Henry turned to leave.

"Magnus, I don't need to go to the FBI," Will stated laying down what looked to be a copy of a newspaper down on her desk. Magnus stared at a picture laying just below the centerfold that featured a girl with long dark hair trying to leave the picture frame, but was being thrust back into the center of the shot. The headline read

**Alice O'Connell: Wanted**

with a byline that read **Elemental Responsible for Deaths of At Least Five People...  
**  
Helen took a deep breath in before muttering "Nikola, what have you gotten yourself into?"


	3. Not So Welcome to London

**Chapter 3**

Today was the day Alice had been dreading, Tesla had decided that he needed to spend some time in London. Alice used to love London, but nowadays it was a symbol of the wizarding world's bigotry.

"Nikola, we can go anywhere in the world, why come here, you know I don't like this place." Alice said reminding Nikola of how much she hated London.

"We're only going to be here a couple of days, if you must you can stay in the hotel room," Nikola said rolling his eyes. Alice's paranoia was starting to nip at his patience.

"Look, the second we step off the train in Folkstone, UK, somebody from the magical community is going to know I'm there." Alice explained. She was beginning to get the feeling Nikola didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

Nevertheless, the pair stepped onto the platform and looked for the private car Nikola had arranged for them. Alice rolled her eyes. Of course Nikola had procured a 2010 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coup in red. Typical, the man had no concept of an inconspicuous arrival.

"I hope you know how to drive one of these," Alice said to him with a half smirk.

"Actually I was going to have you drive," Nikola said with his trademark smirk plastered across his face.

Alice scowled before grabbing the keys from Nikola."You're lucky I learned to drive on a standard transmission".

The pair got into the car and began to drive into the English interior. By the time they arrived in London Alice was ready to pull her hair out. Not only was Nikola being his normal self, but he was trying to tell her how to drive.

Eventually, a.k.a two hours later, the pair arrived at the Savoy in downtown London. They checked in and went to the room. Alice did the honor of opening the door, "Really Nikola, what is it with you and one bedroom suites?" Alice asked.

"I don't need a large amount of sleep," Nikola smirked.

"Why, are you afraid to share a bed with me?" Alcie rolled her eyes and shoved Nikola's face away, as yet again he had moved entirely too close. The pair went through their evening ritual of dancing past each other for showers and changing, before Alice lay down to sleep.

"Goodnight Nikola," Alice said before turning over and closing her eyes.

Nikola looked down at the vulnerable girl he had been traveling with, she was entertaining to him. After nearly two weeks she hadn't left him yet. She still intrigued him, he was completely certain that she wasn't telling him the entire story. It didn't matter to him though, after all he was keeping the whole 'resurrect the vampire species' plan from her. So, in the reality of Nikola's mind they were equal.

Then for the first time since meeting Alice, Nikola felt exhausted. He sat down in a modern half-back chair and considered actually climbing into bed with Alice. She really wouldn't mind as long as he didn't try anything he reasoned. And to a regular person that would make complete sense, but Nikola Tesla was not normal, and neither was Alice O'Connell. So, in Nikola's mind the two oddities canceled each other out and climbed into bed and slept for the first time in weeks.

The next time Alice was conscious it was morning. Sun streamed in through the small cracks in the curtains and Alice felt as though getting up was not an option. She was warm and comfortable with semi soft pillow beneath her head. Then she felt an odd weight at her waist. It was at that point she sat up, board straight in bed and screamed.

"You complete pervert!" she yelled whacking Nikola on the head with a discarded pillow.

Needless to say, Nikola did not have a pleasant experience waking up seeing as his bed mate was trying to kill him with a pillow. He jumped out of bed and smirked.

"See," he said triumphantly, "I told you that you were attracted to me!"

Alice rolled her eyes at him and stood up. A closer look at her eyes revealed a tale-tell red colouring leaking into her irises. Nikola's smirk diminished.

"Okay, I promise to never sleep with you without permission ever again," he said in a softer tone. Alice nodded curtly before attempting to find clean clothes.

She left the room to shower and dress for the day, while Nikola called for room service and the bill, he always paid ahead of time, just in case any unpleasantness should arise. Alice was out of the shower and dressed in fifteen minutes flat, an improvement from her school years time of twenty-five minutes to get ready.

When she walked out Nikola was eating what looked to be a Full English, something she had not tasted since leaving the country. Sitting waiting for Alice, however, was a pink grapefruit sliced in half with a pinch of sea salt added for flavor. She groaned wishing for the hearty breakfast Nikola was devouring. Why did he need to eat anyway, vampires dont eat normal food, they drank blood and thus require no outside nourishment.

Alice smirked evilly to herself. She sat down slowly concentrating on the meal in front of Nikola. In a matter of seconds the dish flew from Nikola's hand into her own, and the minute following that saw the grapefruit splattered on Nikola's face. Alice's amusement did not last long, for not five minutes after she had acquired the breakfast she desires, four pops sounded about the room and there surrounding the table were four men brandishing wands and badges.

"Alice O'Connell, you are hereby under arrest," the one in black robes said, "On the charges of murder, aggravated theft, and..." he was cut off by Nikola shoving him up against the closest wall.

"You will unhand her this instant!" he snarled. Nikola's eyes were completely black and his teeth were fully elongated. His nails however remained normal.

"Vampire!" the man yelled alerting his companions. The next thing Nikola saw was darkness as a bright red spell hit him directly in the chest.

* * *

**The Sanctuary  
**  
Helen Magnus was pacing the floor of her office, an unusual occurrence. She was waiting of Dr. Zimmerman to return from his meeting with an old friend at the FBI in hopes of shedding some more light on the character of Alice O'Connell. She had also sent Henry on a fishing expedition into the FBI's computer files. As if on a cue the two arrived at her office in perfect step.

"What have you found?" she asked finally sitting down behind her Victorian desk.

"Well, I don't know how you met this Alice O'Connell, but she seems to be bad news. She's wanted by the British Ministry of Magic for the murders of four people in a pub outside of London, thus violating the British Statute of Secrecy." Will said opening the file.

Henry nodded indicating that he had found the same things.

Will leafed through the file and Helen asked him a simple question, "How did she kill them?"

"It says here, the group did in a fire that burned the pub down, plus the magical world has never seen the point in autopsies, so they assumed the victims died during the fire." Will said again, before a look of concern passed over his face.

"What is it Will?" Helen asked, concerned having seen that look before.

"It says here that the only reason the Aurors suspected Ms. O'Connell was her proximity to the crime scene and her status as an elemental." Will said rereading a portion of the file to make sure it was correct. Henry stood there, "that wasn't in any of the FBI databases," he said as if what Will had said was a complete lie.

"What can I say, the wizarding world never updated. My contact spent hours digging through unsorted parchment just to find this," Will explained.

* * *

**Somewhere in London**

Nikola Tesla awoke with a splitting head ache. He looked around the room trying to figure out where he was. By the decor, he was in some sort of office, there were portraits of people in long dresses decorating the walls and a symbol of a triangle, circle, and a line at the peak of the large chair, in which a man in maybe his thirties with jet black hair signing a stack of papers. Out of his periphery he could see Alice, who looked at though she was just stirring.

Alice lifted her head to see herself in the one place she didn't want to be.

"Hey, Minister Jack Ass I'm up, ready to interrogate me!" she yelled to get the mans attention. The man lifted his eyes to the pair of people sitting in his office. Alice gasped when she recognized the green eyes and messy black hair.

"Hello Harry, it's been awhile hasn't it," She said smirking.

* * *

A/N: Hi everybody, so this is where the HP bit comes in, and yes I know that it disregards the Epilogue in book 7 and I really don't care. Anyway, this won't last for a long while, just enough for Nikola and Alice to learn a bit about each other and grow a bit. You know the drill read, review!


	4. Some Much Needed Explanation

**Somewhere in London**

Nikola Tesla gaped at the girl stuck to a chair beside him.

"How do you know this man?" he asked.

Harry, as Alice had called him asked a similar question "Where did you meet this muggle?"

"Boys, boys, calm down. Before I answer any questions I want to know why the hell I'm here," Alice shouted.

Again the two men looked dumbfounded.

"The same stubborn second year I remember." Harry chuckled. "You were arrested, Alice, as a suspect in a quadruple homicide."

Harry said looking over his desk at her, not unlike Dumbledore had looked at her.

"You know damn well I did not kill those people. I was in the pub Harry. I left the scene because I knew what those Aurors were going to say when they showed up and saw me, one of the wizarding world's least

favorite people, at the scene." Alice yelled at Harry.

He sat back in disbelief."Alice, I remember the services you rendered as a soldier during the Battle of Hogwarts, unfortunately the wizarding world's memory has faded. You knew that would happen." Harry said.

"Harry it's been twelve years, most of the war's survivors are in positions of power, how the hell could we let them forget." Alice snarled.

Nikola, at this point, was completely and totally lost.

"Um.. don't mind me, but what are you lot talking about," he asked slipping back into his Oxford groomed British accent.

Alice turned to him suddenly remembering that Nikola was in the room. "Remember how I told you I'm a witch and an elemental. Well about a week before you saved me in Prague, I was at a pub on the outskirts of

London. I was just sitting there watching football and drinking a pint when a man burst in, shouted something about cleansing the Wizarding World and set the entire building ablaze." she began. Nikola nodded with

a sense of understanding. "Well, the majority of the wizarding world hates "abnormals". So my being a fire elemental made me the prime suspect. The wizarding police force likes things to be quick and easy. I knew

I'd be the target and ran."

Nikola sighed, shook his head, and trained his glance on the black haired man sitting in front of them.

"So Harry, what was all that stuff about second year, Hogwarts, and what not," Nikola said trying to suppress a smirk.

"Before I begin, I would like to know who I'm talking to, since no record of you can be found, here or in the muggle world." Harry answered "And it's Minister Potter to you," he added.

"Pleasure to meet you Minister Potter, my name is Nikola Tesla, and judging by those candles on the wall, you've never heard of me because high concentrations of magic counteract electricity." Nikola said with a full smirk plastered on his face.

Harry "Minister" Potter's face dropped. "That's not possible you're dead," he said quickly as though to reassure himself.

"See thats where you are quite wrong. My biographers were unaware that I am half vampire and therefore immortal!" Nikola shouted triumphantly.

Alice rolled her eys while waving a finger at Nikola. When he tried to move agin he found he was frozen in place.

"Alice I thought we were past all this tomfoolery," Nikola struggled to say, though it came out somewhat jumbled. Minister Potter laughed heartily at the display.

"Okay, then Mr. Tesla," Minister Potter began after the charm had been lifted. "Nearly thirty years ago a dark wizard by the name of Voldemort was terrorizing Britain. Everyone lived in constant fear of his attacks, or

the attacks of his followers. Then on Halloween night when I was one year old, Voldemort attacked my family home intending to murder my parents and me. He succeded in killing my parents and attempted to kill me,

leaving only a scar on my forhead. From then on, I was known at the Boy-Who-Livid and maintained celebrity status in the wizarding world. My childhood was spent with my abusive relatives. Then at the age of

eleven I was accepted to the wizarding school of Hogwarts. There I spent four eventful years attending the school and learning magic before I aided in the rebirth of Voldemort, through an obscure ritual. Then the

war my parents fought resumed with more ferocity then the previous. This war came to a head when I was seventeen years old. Voldemort's army attacked Hogwarts, where Alice here was in her second year of

schooling. The battle claimed hundreds of lives, but the few remaining students had fought with such valor each was awarded the George Cross. It was also the time when it came to light that certain students had

special powers."

Potter took a deep breath and glanced at Alice.

"For some years afterward even these special students were seen as war heroes. Recently the events of that war have begun to leak from public memory and these heroes have become the enemy. Those with special abilities have been prosecuted, because many see them as the remnants of Voldemort's army." Minister Potter finished, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Alice looked towards the floor as Nikola gaped at her. "You won the **George Cross** and never told me!" he shouted.

* * *

**The Sanctuary**

Helen Magnus sat behind her desk reading a file when Will barged in.

"You have heard of knocking?" she asked rhetorically, seeing as he normally had the decency to knock.

"Magnus, you have a meeting with the Secretary of Magic in fifteen minutes, and just for the record I had to call in a lot of favors to make this happen." Will said standing nervously in front of the large oak desk.

"He's coming here?" Magnus asked.

"Actually, she's coming here," Will corrected. "Lucky for you, she's a muggle born, so she'll be able to understand what goes on here" he continued.

"How exactly is she getting here?" Magnus asked standing and walking around her desk to face Will.

"I took the liberty of connecting your fireplace to the floo network. Just watch for the green flames." Will smirked before exiting.

Magnus did acknowledge Will before he left, but she was busy playing with the gramophone that sat in the corner or her office.

Soon the opening strains of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens could be heard throughout the large office. And as if on cue the fire which a moment ago had been a deep orange was a vibrant shade of green. From this sickly flame emerged a woman of at least thirty years of age in a power suit, Christian Louboutin stilettos, and a severe bun atop her head.

"Good Morning, it is morning here. I'm Secretary of Magic Brenda Rollins.," the women said sticking out her hand.

"Its actually early afternoon, but who's counting. Helen Magnus, Welcome to my sanctuary." Magnus replied taking the hand and shaking it.

"I'm sorry to say your friend Mr. Zimmerman was not very helpful as to the nature of this meeting," Ms. Rollins said sitting in one of the burgundy wingback chairs.

"I arranged for this meeting to discuss a Miss. Alice O'Connell," Magnus said matter-o-factly.

The Secretary looked frightened. "Alice O'Connell is a war hero mum," she stammered, "What else is there to talk about?"

Magnus seemed confused. "War hero, there was no mention of that in her file, only that she is wanted in connection with a quadruple homicide."

The Secretary rolled her eyes. "Do you normally place such faith in the British," Ms. Rollins asked contemptuously.

"Naturally, I am a British citizen. God save the Queen," Magnus answered. Rollins rolled her eyes and waved a stick about. Magnus looked around to see a bottle of Merlot and a tumbler floating toward the table.

"Alice and I were at school together in the mid to late nineties. If it weren't for her and a select group of brave souls, half the wizarding world would not be alive today," she explained taking a sip from the glass.

"The British are just a bunch of bigots, who would rather label everything not pure and normal evil. Unfortunately, most of the people in power exaggerate their war records and allow idiocy to cloud their judgment. I was planning on granting Alice diplomatic immunity, but she seems to have dropped off the face of the planet."

Magnus nodded, "We think a she's being held in London somewhere, but Will hasn't exactly been forthcoming."

Rollins took another swig of the expensive wine, "That's because there are laws about telling non-magical people about magic, and I do have a meeting with Minister Potter this afternoon. Perhaps I could arrange her release into your custody. He should go for it, good head on his shoulders," Ms. Rollins said standing and walking back towards the fireplace.

"It's been a pleasure Dr. Magnus, I'll be back in a few hours with Ms. O'Connell." She threw a powder into the fire, and whispered something and Ms. Rollins was gone.

* * *

**London **

As Magnus and Rollins meeting commenced, Nikola and Alice still sat tied to chairs in Harry Potter's office. Cursorily, Harry sat back in amusement as the two argued.

"You won the George Cross!" Nikola shouted.

"Yeah, well you invented a "death ray" so shut up!" she yelled back.

"I didn't hide it," Nikola responded.

"No you sold the bloody thing to every government in the world!" she countered.

The pair had been arguing for over a half an hour, and Harry was just sitting there trying his best not to laugh at them.

"Mr. Tesla, Alice, I'm afraid to tell you, but our marriage counselor is on sick leave today, might you come back another time?" he said in an attempt to stop the fighting.

"We are not married!" Alice shouted at Harry. "And can we go now!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can go in about ten minutes, after an old friend sees you,"

The fire flared up behind Nikola and Alice, and out stepped Ms. Rollins.

"Brenda?" Alice asked; the figure still slightly obscured by the dust that spewed from the fireplace.

"Nice to see you to Alice," she said curtly turning to Harry.

"Potter, all I need is a wizards oath and a drop of blood." she said pulling out a rather large scroll.

The man groaned, "I'm trying to save a good witch's life and you're concerned with paper work, seriously!"

Alice looked between the two and then at Nikola before laughing "Who needs the marriage counselor now?"

The pair looked at her, "we are in the process to saving your life Alice, try to be serious." Ms. Rollins stated sternly.

"Oh, that's big from little Brenda Rollins. And why is it that everyone I know is part of this blasted government!" Alice yelled.

Nikola winced, "can you lower the volume a minute, it's grating my patience," he said just loudly enough for the her to hear. Harry and Brenda simply ignored him. Alice rolled her eyes and watched the Harry and Brenda seal the order of asylum.

Sec. Rollins walked over to Alice and handed her the parchment.

"This is a grant of political asylum; it'll keep you out of trouble here. Unfortunately, it means you can't set foot in England for the next 150 years." She said before walking back to the fireplace and disappearing. Harry waved his hand and Alice found herself free of the chair. She went to him and hugged before using her own magic to release Tesla.

"I'll see you around Harry," she called as she apparated herself and Tesla back to their hotel room.

Tesla fell over when they appeared in the room. "Never ever do that to me again," he said gripping his head.

"Look Nikola, I'm really sorry, but we have exactly two hours to be out of the country," Alice said looking down at him.

"Why don't we call Helen and ask to borrow her Jet?" Nikola asked, standing up and smoothing out his suite jacket. "You do realize, I could just apperate us anywhere in the world," Alice smirked. Nikola ignored her and went about the room quickly collecting his things.

Alice reached up and froze Nikola in place just as he picked up his packed suitcase.

"Sorry Nikola, but this is going to hurt," she whispered pointing a finger at his head. A moment later, she was walking through Nikola Tesla's 150 years of memories. Some of his memories amazed her, but she was looking for a memory of the Sanctuary, there had to be one in there somewhere. Amazingly, Nikola's memories were all organized in some manner that Alice did not understand. She spent what felt like hours shifting through the memories before noticing that Nikola was standing behind her.

"What exactly are you doing in my head?" he asked. Alice turned at look at him for a moment and realized that Nikola looked fully vampire in his mind.

"I'm looking for a memory of the Sanctuary, if i can find one I can apperate us there, and I promise to deal with your headache as soon as we're done." she said softly.

Vamp Nikola nodded and walked to a draw labeled with a complex mathematical equation.

"Here," he said handing her a folder before disappearing. Alice opened the folder carefully peering at the contents.

"Thank you Nikola," she said before leaving his mind.

When she surfaced, she realized that Tesla was not happy with her, by any stretch of the imagination.

"You are never to do that again!" he almost shouted at her.

"Calm down Nikola, I just needed your memory of the old city Sanctuary. " Alice said pointing at his head and whispering a short spell. Instantly Nikola felt his headache ease, then fully disappear.

"Can we go now?" Alice asked him seriously. He nodded grabbing a hold of her hand, before the same tugging sensation as before pulled him somewhere new…


	5. Even Vampires Are Children Sometimes

Chapter 5

When Tesla opened his eyes, he saw what appeared to be one of the guest rooms inside the Old City Sanctuary . He glanced to his right to see Alice gazing around in awe of the small but splendid room. Nikola made way to drop his bag at the foot of the bed before briskly walking out of the room. At the door he looked over his shoulder at Alice, who was still glancing at the room.

"Are you coming?" he asked stiffly. Alice nodded setting her bag down on the floor.

It took everything in Alice just to keep up with Nikola. Normally he'd slow his pace for her, but right now all he seemed more keen on getting where ever he was than being a gentleman.

"Nikola, slow down, for god sakes, I can not walk that fast," she almost screamed at him. It came out as more of a weeze since by that point she was jogging to keep up with him.

He looked at her for a moment and kept walking until he arrived in Magnus's wine cellar. Alice stood at the door wheezing in an attempt to catch her breath.

"You had me run a marathon for some wine, Christ Nikola" she said quietly.

He continued to ignore her as he surveyed the racks of wine in front of him. Alice realized that he was mumbling to himself about a year or something she couldn't quite make it out.

A few moments later he stopped and pulled a bottle out, uncorked it with his vampiric nails and took a swig.

"Wine needs to breath Nikola." Alice said in jest. The brooding man looked over at her and glared.

"After what you did, you don't have the right to tell me anything," he said sternly.

Nikola brushed passed her wine bottle in hand and started walking somewhere new. By this point Alice had caught her breath by this point and pressed the comm button on the wall near the wine cellar's entrance.

"Hello" came a gruff voice on the other end of the line.

"Um...hi, my name's Alice O'Connell. I was wondering if Dr. Magnus was in today?" she said through the small box.

"Yes, she is in." the voice said and was gone.

Alice stood around a few minutes and was poised to push the button again when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hello Alice, Welcome to the Sanctuary." the voice said with a hint of a smile in it.

Alice turned around to see Helen Magnus standing there looking slightly puzzled but more bemused.

"Hi Helen, its nice to see you. You wouldn't happen to know where Nikola is would you?" she asked in a rather urgent tone.

"I'm sure the security camera was spotted him," she answered turning around and motioning for Alice to follow her.

"May I inquire as to why you're here?" Magnus asked as they walked down the halls.

"I was given a grant of asylum, which meant I needed to get out of England fast, and Nikola didn't have a really great ideas, so we came here. But also Thank You, I had a feeling that you had something to do with getting Brenda off her ass and actually doing something." Alice explained, her hands waving in a few gestures.

The pair walked into the tech room where Henry was standing there confused.

"Boss, I don't know how, but two people got into the building," he said nervous, and not realizing that one of those persons was standing right next to him.

" I'm fully aware of that Henry. Its alright you didn't do anything." Magnus said trying to soothe him. Finally Henry realized that someone he didn't know was standing next to Magnus.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Alice, now can we get on with the finding Nikola before he does something stupid?" she asked him harshly. Who could blame her, the guy didn't seem to understand the urgency she felt.

Henry scoffed at this girl and turned back to the monitors.

"Tesla's sitting in the library." he said very matter-of-factly. Alice nodded at looked at Magnus as if to ask directions.

"Go down this corridor to the staircase, up two floors, take a left the double doors on the right," Magnus said softly and watched the girl take off.

"Magnus, you do realize that..." Henry started once Alice was out of earshot.

Magnus nodded, "I know Henry, but thank you for the assessment." The the pair turned back to the security system to see what unfolded.

* * *

Alice raced around the Sanctuary like it was nobody's business. She needed to get to Nikola and explain a few things. She found him almost sprawled across one of the overstuffed arm chairs with the bottle of wine and a volume of poetry.

"Nikki?" she questioned. Nikola paid no attention to the woman standing in front of him.

"Nikola?" she questioned again taking a step closer to the chair.

"You might as well answer me Nikola. I know you aren't drunk. As much as you would like to be." she said kneeling down in front of the chair.

Nikola moved away from her as best he could, but only succeed in pushing himself farther into the chair. "Go away," he mumbled.

"No Nikola, I'm not going to go away because right now you are all I have," she whispered. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"and right now you are acting like a stubborn child," she added.

Nikola turned at looked at her, "you violated my trust." he said harshly taking another swig of the wine.

Alice could clearly see the label now, a '45 Bordeaux, Magnus would definitely miss that when all was said and done.

" I did what I thought was best Nikola. Believe me, I never wanted to do that to you." She said softly.

She moved slowly and attempted to place her hands on either side of his head again.

"Let me make it stop hurting Nikola," she whispered into his ear. He shook his head in an attempt to shake her hands off, but her fingers latched onto his hair.

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Alice swore she could see Nikola's soul in their bluish grey depths.

"I remember what happened the last time you did that," he snarled at her, his vampiric attributes were beginning to become more prominent.

"I'm not going to do that ever again Nikola," Alice whispered leaning into his ear to deliver the message that time.

"capitis curare" she whispered even softer into his ear, and removed her hands from his head. Nikola relaxed slightly as the pain began to ebb from his thoughts.

Alice leaned forward and kissed Nikola's forehead.

"All better?" she asked. He nodded, but remained curled up in that arm chair.

"Alright the Nikki, I'll leave you to your wine." she said getting up to leave. Nikola reached an arm out.

"No," he whispered "stay."

Alice smiled at him softly, "alright Nikki,I'll stay as long as you like."

Alice sat down on the sofa next to Nikola armchair. He stuck out the bottle of wine, like a peace offering, and Alice obliged. Although Alice was not a wine connoisseur, wine of that age was delicious. She handed the bottle back to Nikola and picked up a book that sat on the coffee table. She opened to the title page and laughed. Nikola looked at her oddly before she showed him the title page. It was a harlequin romance novel that had been left out. He smirked realizing that someone at the Sanctuary must be reading them. Alice rolled her eyes and replaced the book on the coffee table.

After that the pair sat in silence for what seemed like hours, before Nikola moved to join Alice on the couch. Since Alice held the spot next to the arm rest Nikola leaned against her and continued to drink, occasionally offering her a sip.

Eventually the pair's position changed so that Alice lay wedged between the back of the sofa and Nikola, and Nikola lay facing her tettering on the edge. The wine bottle now empty lay on the floor under the sofa. Alice's eyes dropped slowly as she mumbled something incoherent to Nikola.

He smiled at her and whispered back "go to sleep".

Alice obliged him slowly drifiting off to a sound sleep. Nikola rolled off the sofa and looked at the wine bottle. It could be useful if he ever needed to get something to Magnus. He picked up the wine bottle and Alice and carried them both back to the room they had arrived in earlier that morning.

* * *

Back in the control room, or whatever it's called, Magnus and Henry still sat watching as Nikola left the library with Alice. Magnus smiled to herself once she realized how the pair acted when alone. Henry simply sat there very confused as to what had occurred. He looked at Magnus expecting an explanation. She simply continued to smile

"Maybe when you're older you'll understand," she said leaving the room.

* * *

Once Nikola reached the room he lay Alice down on the bed trying desperatly not to wake her. Quietly he opened his suitcase and placed the empty wine bottle inside. Afterward he sat down in a chair near the bed so he could watch her sleep. Of course he realized how creepy it was for a man of 144 watching a woman of 27 sleep. But he couldn't stop himself. Alice began thrashing around in her sleep. He went over to the side of the bed and tried to comfort her.

"Shhhh...It's only a dream," he said as he tried to grab her flailing arms.

"Alice, it's alright I'm here," he said still trying the more removed approach.

Regardless of what he tried he couldn't get her to stop. He had never seen a someone have a nightmare this bad. Eventually he gave up trying to hold her still and climb into bed. With Alice's limbs still flying every which way Nikola's arms shot out a wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. He held her there, whispering soft words into her ear until her body stilled.

Once Alice had stilled Nikola tried to move away from the sleeping woman but her arms held his in place preventing him from getting up. After a few minutes of fruitless efforts Nikola gave into Alice, and willed himself to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone. Holy Mackerel, I've written five chapters in three days, not all the same story of course, but I am on a roll. Hope you like the slightly fluffy chapter, but I had to start the real romancy bit eventually. Anyway you know the drill: Read, Review, Add to what ever lists you want. Though I shall warn you, I have no real idea when the next chapter will show up because I have these little things called finals I'm supposed to be studying for. But hey, who needs college anyway.


	6. Alice is Always Right, Will Not So Much

Chapter 6

It was nearly noon what Alice woke up. She was disoriented at first, but as her vision cleared she realized that she was no longer in the library, but in bed. In fact, it was a rather comfortable bed and warm enough to make her want to stay in bed forever. Alice smiled to herself and cuddled closer into the warmth.

"Alice, it's time to get up," a voice whispered into her ear. Alice's eyes opened wide and she tried to sit up only to be pulled back down by arms that were warped around her waist. "Alice, calm down, it's just me." the voice said louder this time. Alice lifted her head up to see Nikola smirking at her.

"How did we get back here? The last thing I remember we were laying on that sofa," she said softly. She looked up and tried to resit the urge to run her hand though Nikola's slightly sleep tousled hair.

"You fell asleep, I carried you back here." he said.

"Do we have to get up. I'd sort of like to just stay in bed all day," she said laying her head back down.

"Alice, if we don't leave soon John is going to show up and try to kill me," Nikola said cheekily.

"Who's this John person, and what did you do that he want you dead for." she asked reluctantly pulling herself out of bed. Nikola sat up still in bed and watched Alice sleepily move about the room.

"Montague John Druitt, a.k.a Jack the Ripper, wants to kill me because I had an annoying habit of hitting on Helen," he explained.

Alice stopped for a minute and turned around, "Let me see if I understand," she said "Jack the Ripper, the most infamous serial killer ever, wants to kill you because you hit on his girlfriend?" Nikola smirked one of his famous smirks.

"Sounds about right,"

Alice rolled her eyes at Nikola, located the clothes that she wanted to wear for the day, and disappeared into the connected bathroom. Nikola took the opportunity to get out of bed, stretch, and grab some fresh clothes.

By the time Alice reemerged from the bathroom dressed Nikola had on everything but his shirt. Alice stopped for moment and looked over Nikola's toned but thin form.

"See something you like," Nikola asked giving Alice a glimpse of his chest and abs. Alice picked up one of her trainers and chucked it at him.

"Hey, watch the face," Nikola chuckled ducking as the shoe flew at him.

Alice rolled her eyes and went to make the bed.  
_

The pair emerged to see a girl with blonde hair standing outside their door waiting.

"You all sure took your sweet time this morning," she said cheeky grin on her face.

"And who are you exactly?" Alice asked standing between Nikola and this unknown girl.

"Ashley Magnus. Mom sent me to find you. She though you might like some lunch." the girl said

"Alice, down girl," Nikola said from behind her. Alice rolled her eyes and stepped aside motioning for Ashley to lead the way. As Ashley turned her back she heard a distinct slapping sound.

"What was that for?" Nikola asked.

"That was for acting like I'm your dog," Alice said with a slightly peeved tone. Ashley smirked and kept walking.

A few minutes later the trio arrived in the dinning room where Helen Magnus and man about Alice's age sat talking over what appeared to be some sort of fish with rice and fresh veggies. Alice's mouth watered at the sight of what she hoped was a home cooked meal. She loved all the swanky places she went with Nikola, but she missed simple home cooked meals every now and again.

Helen looked up to see the trio standing there "Ah, Alice Nikola, please join us. Will and I were just having the most marvelous disscussion about the merits of time travel (A/N: yes I know it's silly, but Magnus can't be all work all the time.)" Magnus said motioning for them to join the table.

"I, for one, think time travel is absolutely ridiculous," Nikola said as the Big Guy put a plate of food in front of him., though he had tried to wave the Big Guy off. Alice rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the conversation.

"I'm not so sure, Will was telling me that wizards have a device known as a time turner," Magnus started to explain, but was interrupted by Alice snorted into her food.

"Is something funny Alice?" Magnus asked.

"A time turner does not allow a person to travel freely in time, just backwards. It's only real use is creating paradoxes for the universe to sort out" Alice stated before returning to savour the flavors of her salmon.

Will looked up at the girl who was busy with her food, "So, those paradoxes are easily avoidable and traveling forwards in time can be dangerous, so why not limit time travel to going backwards," he said "all you need to do is avoid yourself,"

Alice looked up from her food and glared. "You're an American muggle born right?" She asked him with a hint of something not even Nikola could place in her voice.

"And what if I am?" Will asked.

"Then you haven't had to deal with the Brits," Alice said, "Time Turners are strictly regulated, to the point that they aren't available. The last time anyone was permitted one, a thirteen year old girl got it so she could take twice the course load she should have. You've also forgotten that since the government hordes all such devices, all of Britain's were destroyed in 1996." Alice said anger creeping into her voice.

"Alice play nice with the boy," Nikola warned, though he too wanted to slightly maime Will.

Will looked at the pair like he had just swallowed a very large foot, but recovered quicker than Alice expected. "And how do you know so much Ms. O'Connell?"

Alice glowered at him. "You've obviously read my file, and its obvious you're a profiler. So how about you tell me, about me."

At this both Magnus and Nikola were taken aback. Neither had seen their friends be so competitive.

"Judging from the accent I'd say Welsh, maybe Cardiff. You're a witch, so trained at Hogwarts, most likely Gryffindor. I'd say you saw the Battle of Hogwarts, were deemed to young to fight, but since you've takenup with Mr. Hidden Agenda over there you fought anyway. You have a definite problem with authority, and an intimate knowledge of magic, I'm guessing thats from some University training, but you dropped out when it got boring. You hate the Ministry of Magic, but only because it refuses to accept that some people are special, but you miss the people you've lost someone very important to you, not your mother or your father, but still close to you; which explains why you're defensive around other magical folk." Will said

Alice stood up, her meal half finished ,and bolted out the door. Nikola stood up and went to Magnus and whispered something in her ear. She nodded politely and excused herself. Nikola also excused himself in an attempt to find Alice, thus leaving Will alone in the dining room wondering what he had said. The Big Guy just shook his head and went to clean up the forgotten dishes.

* * *

Nikola found Alice, in their guest room sobbing.

"Alice, please tell me whats wrong," he said softly gently rubbing the crying girl's back.

Alice lifted her head up for a few seconds before sitting up and latching on to Nikola and crying into his shoulder. Nikola was unsure for a moment how to react, but settled on trying to comfort Alice. He wrapped his arms around her shaking frame, one arm around her back, the other holding her head into his shoulder.

"Alice," he whispered, "its alright, everything is alright. We're leaving soon." he said trying to help the situation.

She mumbled what sounded like a 'thank god' to Nikola, but continued to sob. Once her tears started to soak through his suit jacket and shirt, Alice pulled away slightly so she could she his face.

"Sorry for ruining the suit," she said softly, "Will just got to me."

Nikola looked down at Alice, "you have nothing to be sorry for, but what's wrong; something he said obviously bothered you." he said in the same soft tone.

"You know how Will said I lost someone," Alice started, "I did, I lost my best friend, because I wasn't fast enough."

Nikola stared at her before asking "what are you talking about?"

"The Battle of Hogwarts, I was supposed to stay with the younger students in the Great Hall, but I wanted to help, so i ran out while no one was looking. Beverly Hanson was my best friend, a second year like I was, but she was in Ravenclaw. She saw me take off and tried to follow me. I didn't realize it at the time, but the minute she left that hall be was hit by a killing curse that wasn't even meant for her. I was too caught up in the fight to even realize she'd come after me until I saw her body." Alice started to cry a little more and hugged Nikola tighter to her.

Nikola tried to soothe her, but the infamous Druitt appeared to break up the small party.

"Aw Nikola, I never took you for the romantic type," Druitt said causing the pair to separate.

"Helen says the jet's ready when you are," he continued like nothing had happened.

Alice wiped the stray tears from her face before moving to collect her bags. Nikola too took a moment to straighten his cravat and jacket before grabbing his bag.

"Okay John, lets go and try to be gentle this time," Nikola said. Alice looked at him oddly, then she realized that Jack the Ripper was holding onto her and *poof* the pair appeared at a private airport. Alice wrenched herself out of Druitt's grasp and ran a few feet off before emptying the contents of her stomach.

Nikola looked over at her then back at Druitt, "I didn't do anything" the man defend, "Helen said just tell the pilot where you want to go. " Then John Druitt vanished from sight.

Nikola looked around a moment to see the Sanctuary Network's private jet. He smiled before walking over the Alice with all their bags in hand.

"You alright?" he asked. Alice shook her head slowly.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Anywhere you want, in the whole world" Nikola said smiling.

"I've always wanted to go to Tokyo," she said, her voice cracking slightly still stressed from her earlier crying.

"Tokyo it is then," Nikola said helping the swaying girl to the plane.

When they stepped onto the plane the pilot, a homely looking man with white hair greeted them and asked where they would be flying.

"Tokyo please," Nikola said. The pilot nodded and went back to the cockpit to discuss a flight plan with Air traffic control leaving the pair in a comfortable silence

Once the pair were buckled into their seats and the pilot had been given the final destination the plane took off. Since it was a company jet, Magnus had forgone hiring flight attendants and electing for a permanent food prep area at the rear of the plane, stocked with enough food for at least one circumvention of the earth. After the plane reached cruising altitude the pilot announced that they would be making a two hour pit stop in Hawaii to refuel, and that the total flying time would be about 11 hours. The pilot signed out and turned off the fasten seat belt sign.

Nikola immediately got up and walked to the bar at the back. He picked up a bottle of water and placed one of the microwavable meals in the microwave for Alice. He walked back to where Alice sat and handed her the bottle of water. "Thank you," she said. He smiled at her and walked back to get the meal out of the microwave. He grabbed a spoon and went back to Alice. She looked down at the food, mac and cheese, and smiled at Nikola before digging in.

After she finished she got up and walked to her bag and pulled out what looked to be a small metal box, placed the headphones in her ears and hit a button. Nikola gave her a look, he hadn't seen this technology before. Alice laughed and handed him one of the ear buds. He held it and examined it.

"Put it in your ear Nikki," she laughed. He placed the bud in his ear and was only slightly amazed to hear Largo from Dvoark's New World Symphony. "That is astounding, a portable hard drive to store and play music," Nikola said. Alice shook her head slightly as to not jar the earphones out of their ears and chuckled. Nikola's sciency talk always had a way of making her laugh. The pair sat in comfortable silence listening to music the remainder of the first half of the flight, until the loud ding of the fasten seat belts sign came on.

When Alice walked off the plane into the Hawaiian sun she simply couldn't believe what she was seeing. Even the airport was beautiful here. It was warm and sky was a bright blue. Alice smiled and walked off in the direction of the hanger with Nikola next to her.

* * *

**Back at the Sanctuary**

"Will, what were you thinking?" Mangus questioned.

"I didn't do anything Magnus," Will defended. "She challenged me, and I accepted."

"You may have been recruited for your deductive abilities, but using them to dredge people's pasts." Magnus said sternly.

"Look, I didn't mean to go that far, but she started it." Will started only to be cut off by Magnus.

"Stop being a child William." she nearly shouted at him in a very unMagnus way.

"Now, if and when we see Tesla and Alice again, you will apologize to her. Is that understood?" she continued.

Will nodded and started to sneak away, probably back to his room.

"And Will," Magnus said making him turn around, "Tomorrow morning I want a full report about everything you know of the wizarding world on my desk. I have a feeling its going to come in handy."

Will nodded his head again and continued toward his room.

* * *

A/N: HEY EVERYONE! I hope ya'll like this next installment, I know there was a lot of talking and what not, but it needed to happen, you know exposition and what not. Anyway, next time I'll be posting the Holiday Special, in which Nikola and Alice take a trip to Serbia, Nikola's homeland. It promises to be hysterical. Other than that ya'll know the drill- Read, Review, Repeat.


	7. The plot relevant Christmas Special

Just for fun: The Christmas Special

* * *

It was December 23th when Nikola Tesla and his companion Alice O'Connell arrived in his home nation of Serbia. Of course it was much different than Tesla remember, as he had not truly been back since before the turn of the century. But Alice had insisted that their Christmas be special, since they couldn't go to England; Serbia was the next best thing. Once they stepped off the train they were assaulted by people trying to sell things, not that Alice could understand them. Languages had never been her strong suit, and considering they were now in a place where the even the alphabet was different god help her.

Nikola rolled his eyes at the absurd number of peddlers that obviously spent their entire day harassing the people coming and going in the station. He let loose a long line of Serbian at the group telling them that

"No, neither he nor the girl wanted to buy anything" and "to get out of his way". Alice tried and failed to hold back the laughter she felt accurately described looks on the peddlers faces when they realized the man they had just harassed spoke their native tongue fluently.

The couple left the station talking about what they wanted to do for Chirstmas.

"Come on Nikola, lets go see the Nikola Tesla Museum, and see how much of it's wrong." Alice suggested. Nikola had to admit it wasn't a bad idea, and he looked different enough now that hopefully no one could tell he was the same person as the one in the old photographs.

They walked down the crowded streets of Belgrade in quite contentment. When the pair arrived at the actual Museum they were surprised to see how small the building was.

"Well, it's not like I left the majority of my work," Nikola mumbled so only Alice could hear. It was only then that Alice realized how close together they were walking.

She blushed, and Nikola smirked. "Am I making you uncomfortable dear," he added.

Nikola held the door open for Alice, as they walked in they were greeted by a young man who introduced himself as a graduate student of Engineering at the nearby University of Belgrade. He explained how the Museum was to be viewed, and said that if they needed any help at all understanding something to just ask. Alice gave Nikola a look knowing the man was two seconds away from telling the student that he was Nikola Tesla.

They walked through the Museum at a leisurely pace that allowed Nikola to explain various pieces in greater detail. In fact Alice had to work at keeping him from stopping at every pieces of his life to explain its importance, and she had a good laugh about his mustache. Though they did stay long enough to see the demonstration. Alice awed at the sheer thought of pure electricity, and Nikola chuckled knowing that that particular machine wasn't close to full capacity. Once they had made it all the way round Alice stopped at the gift shop, and shooed Nikola away saying that she wanted to do some Christmas shopping. Nikola rolled his eyes at her and went to wait on the steps outside the Museum.

When Alice emerged Nikola gave her a questioning look as she wasn't carrying a bag of any sort.

"I shrank the bag hun, and don't give me that look, I'm not going to explain all my secrets." she said walking past him down the took the steps a few at a time to catch up.

"I was thinking, why don't we go to the National Ballet while in town." he said once they were walking in sync again.

"If you want me to go to the Ballet, that means I'm going to need to go shopping." Alice said making sure to look at Nikola to see hi reaction.

"But, you have that nice little black number in your bag," Nikola protest. The only other time he had let her shop it had been five hours and twenty seven minutes of misery for him.

"Nikki, come on. It's December in Belgrade, my little black dress is not going to cut it. Besides you don't have to come with me, I can shop perfectly well on my own. I'll just need your credit card, and its not like you use it a lot anyway." Alice said stepping in front of Nikola a moment. Nikola hadn't realized this and ended up bumping into her. When he took a step back he could see the light blush on her cheeks.

"I suppose one little shopping trip couldn't cause to much trouble." he said. Alice's eyes brighted at the news and she hugged him. "Thank you," she said into his ear.

The couple detached and continued onwards to their hotel. As was usual nowadays they were in one of the nicer suits, and of course there was only one king sized bed in the room.

"One of these days Nikola, I'm going to walk into a hotel room and die of shock because there are two beds." Alice said putting her things down.

"When were you planning out little ballet outing?" she continued checking out the bathroom and closet.

"How does tomorrow night sound, according to the concierge the National Ballet is performing Swan Lake," Nikola suggested from the bed where he watched Alice explore their room. It was smaller than their usual suite, a small foyer, a medium sized bathroom with a spa tub, and separate shower, a small kitchen, and a bedroom just off the foyer with a beautiful four-poster queen sized bed.

"Alright then, that's plenty of time for the appropriate shopping," Alice smiled her hand outstretched.

Nikola rolled his eyes are her and said, "You are way too happy about this." And dropped the silver piece of plastic into her hand.

"Try not to go too overboard," he said as she left the suite, "I'm not made of money you know!" Alice simply smiled and left the hotel wondering what kind of dress she should look for. After all she had a 154 year old vampire to impress.

It was midafternoon when Alice walked into a tiny boutique dress shop off the main shopping avenue. She had already visited what seemed like a hundred shops and none of them had what she wanted. At the rate, she was going she was beginning to lose hope that she could find something suitable in time.

This shop seemed wonderful from the window, it had only one customer inside and hundreds of dresses to try. Alice instantly took a liking to the place when she walked in and one of the women behind the counter asked if she needed anything in French. Alice nodded and explained her situations to the women in the best French she woman nodded at her words "ballet… dinner… boyfriend… and...it needs to wow."

The women, who had introduced herself as Katya, went to the racks of dresses and pulled out three. The first dress was a ball gown with a full skirt in dark reddish velvet. The second dress was more of an A-Line styled dress with a sweetheart neckline in a gorgeous silverish grey that reminded Alice of Nikola's eyes. The final dress was another A-Line, but was black from the hem to just below the bust in a shiny almost silk fabric, while the bust itself was pure white that was split into two triangles that covered the bust area and allowed a v of skin to show in between. Alice nodded obviously approving of all the dress choices before being ushered into a fitting room to try them on.

Alice picked her favorite of the three after trying all of the dresses on. It would be perfect to make Nikola squirm. Katya had then ushered Alice, while in the dress of her choosing, to the seamstress' area, as she needed the dress by tomorrow. The seamstress smiled at Alice as she made her way over and said something in Serbian that Alice did not understand. Katya smiled and tried to translate the words for Alice, but the correct phrasing escaped her. Once the dress had been fitted and paid for, Alice asked Katya if she could come back tomorrow and get ready here. The older women smiled and told Alice that their fitting room would await her return.

Once the dress had been taken care of, it became easier for Alice to shop for shoes and a coat. Those items she bought and took back to the suite with her.

"Honey, I'm home!" Alice shouted placing the coat and shoes in the closet. Nikola came from the kitchen area and smiled at her.

"Did you find what you needed?" he asked looking in the closet. Alice smiled back and nodded before pulling out Nikola's credit card and the receipts.

"Do I get to see the dress?" he asked shoving the small pile into his jacket pocket.

"Not till tomorrow," Alice said walking past him into the kitchen. Nikola gave her an odd look, but followed her picking up his half empty bottle of wine and drinking as Alice made herself coffee.

* * *

The next day flew by, soon it was nearly four o'clock when Alice was going back to the dress shop. The pair was promised to meet in the hotel bar before heading off to dinner at 6, and the ballet started at 8. Alice was giddy as she left Nikola and their suite with her coat, shoes, and bag. Alice had neglected to do her hair, as she wasn't quite sure how she wanted it done. The women at the dress shop smiled at Alice as she entered the shop with her accessories in hand. Katya came up and told Alice that her dress was finished and that if she wanted she could get dressed right that moment. Alice nodded at Katya and went into the dressing room. Alice emerged almost ten minutes later fully dressed, but her hair still did seem to be to her liking.

One of the other women whispered something to Katya, and the women smiled, "Would you like some help with your hair?" Katya asked in French of course.

Alice shied away with her head low. "Yes," she responded quietly. The women in the shop smiled at her and started their work. When they were done Alice looked herself over in one of the mirrors. She smirked and left the shop with many goodbyes.

Nikola sat at the hotel bar nursing a glass of red wine while the piano player performed some of soft classical music. It had been nearly two hours since Alice had gone out to "get ready" for their little date. Nikola stopped himself when the word date crossed his mind.

"This isn't a date," Nikola said to himself before taking another swig of wine. As the piano player started a new tune Nikola heard the distinct sound of heels on the marble floor of the hotel lobby. He swiveled on his stool to see a beautiful brunette woman walking in to the small bar. The woman walked up to Nikola and took his wine glass from him.

"Nikki, You really shouldn't be drinking this early," the woman said. Nikola did a double take, there was no way the woman in front of him was Alice.

Alice smiled once she realized Nikola Tesla was in shock. It isn't often that someone manages to shock the man responsible for adapting electricity for home use. "Nikola," she said with a sly smirk on her face, "close your mouth or the flies will get in."

Nikola scanned over the young woman in front of him. Her hair was gathered into an elegant bun at the back of her head. There were small dangling diamond earrings hanging from her ears. However, of all the things that surprised Nikola was her dress choice. It was a floor-length sheath-style dress, and two colors. The empire waist separated the white bodice from the black skirt, and at the waist line sat a small embellishment that really brought attention to her chest and face.

Alice rolled her eyes as she felt herself being scrutinized by Nikola. "Nikola my eyes are up here," she said forcing him to stop looking at her and pay attention for a minute.

"If we don't' leave now we're going to be late for dinner," she said watching Nikola's expression changed from one of wonder to one of his clever smirks.

"Well, if that's the case, we'd better be off then." Nikola said offering Alice his arm. The pair smiled and walked into the chilly Serbian night.

* * *

After their desserts and check had been taken, Nikola pulled out what looked like a square box covered in red velvet about the palm.

"Merry Christmas" he said passing her the box.

"Nikola you shouldn't have," Alice said sweetly. She hadn't gotten him anything near as grand as what could possibly be in that box. She opened it and gasped.

"Nikola, where did you get this." she asked him. Inside the box sat a Victorian Style multi-chained necklace in silver. There were three main pendant pieces that looked as though they were made out of garnet or ruby set in antiqued silver. Along the chains themselves Alice could feel the small pearls.

"I found it, in an antique shop in Prague the morning after I saved you." he said. " I saw it in the window and thought of you." Alice smiled and reached across the table to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you, its beautiful," she said slipping the necklace out of the box.

"Help me put it on?" she asked handing Nikola the necklace and turning so that her back faced him. He smiled and clasped the necklace around Alice's neck.

"There," he said into her ear when he was done. The feeling of Nikola's breath on her neck made Alice want to whip around and kiss him right then and there, but the sensible angel popped up on her shoulder and told her it would never work.

"To the Ballet then Mon Cher?" Nikola asked once they were back in their appropriate seats, though his eyes fought to stay focused on Alice's eyes, when that necklace only accentuated the dress's bust line.

"Allonsy! Mon Cher," Alice said standing up and offering Nikola her arm.

* * *

The ballet was other worldly to Alice. Never in her life had she seen people move the way those ballerinas did. Then again, the experience probably wouldn't have been the same if Nikola hadn't procured box seats for the occasion. As Alice leaned closer to the edge of the box Nikola sat back and watched her with great amusement. She was just so full of energy and life, that Nikola wondered sometimes if she really connected to Helen in some way. He chuckled lightly to himself when Alice gasped at the prima ballerina's pirouette to Arabesque to a vertical split.

When the curtain fell Nikola was absolutely certain that no one in the Theater clapped louder than Alice did. As the left the Theater and retrieved their coats from the coat check Nikola noticed a small flower shop down the street aways. He walked toward it pulling Alice with him. Once inside Nikola asked the man how much a bouquet of Calla Lillies.

By this point Alice had grown weary of not understanding what the people around her were saying and had cast a mid translation spell on herself in hopes that Nikola, you know, wouldn't sell her for a goose or something.

The shop owner nodded and went to collect the Lillies. When the man returned he told Nikola the price of the flowers, almost two thousand dinar (about 25 US dollars.  
). Nikola glared at the man and said in harsh serbian that he refused to pay more than 1500 dinar for them. The man looked at Nikola like he had suddenly grown three heads. His retort had Alice rolling on the floor with laughter. Nikola raised an eyebrow as he paid the man the slightly more reasonable price of 1750 dinar (about $20) for the flowers and went to try and peel Alice off the floor.

"What is so funny," he asked helping her up.

"He said that you sounded like his grandmother." she said wiping tears from her eyes. Nikola glared at her for a moment.

"I will have you know, I am much older than his grandmother," he said. Alice shook her head and continued chuckling walking ahead of Nikola.

Nikola walked faster to catch up with her, "Alice, the flowers are for you," he said handing the bouquet to her.

She moved to take the outstretched bouquet when their hands touched. It was only momentary contact, but it caused Alice's face to heat up almost immediately.

"Thank you Nikola," she said admiring the bouquet.

The walk back to their suit was a quite one, neither spoke, just the closeness of the other kept them company.

Once they arrived back at their suite Alice rushed in ahead of Nikola into the room. As he stepped into the room Nikola gave Alice an odd look, but the look quickly vanished when she returned with two wrapped packages.

"Merry Christmas Nikki," she said handing him the packages. He looked at the packages curiously.

"Aww.. you shouldn't have," Nikola said sarcastically.

Alice glared at him, "Just open them," she said.

Nikola placed the packages on the small table in the entryway of their suite and shrugged off his coat before picking up the packages and moving to unwrap them. He ripped the paper off the larger package to reveal a copy of the novel _Twilight_ by Stephanie Meyer. Nikola looked at Alice over the edge of the present and raised an eyebrow as if to say "really?" She laughed and motioned for him to unwrap the second gift. Nikola acquiesced to Alice's request and placed the book on the entryway table

It was a smaller box than the book, just big enough to not fit in Nikola's palm. He opened the package to reveal a box, not unlike the jewelry box he had given Alice at dinner. He opened the box to reveal an exquisite silver pocket watch and chain. Nikola again raised him eyebrows at Alice.

"I noticed that your old watch doesn't work anymore, so I thought you might like a newer one," she said, "now open it." Nikola did as instructed and opened the watch to reveal a stripped down clock face, the numerals were there, but the center of the clock face had removed so that the mechanics could be seen. Nikola smiled at the gears. He had always loved the inner workings of clocks, such complex little machines.

"Thank you," he said placing the pocket watch back in its box and placing it too on the table and walking over to where Alice sat. "I know neither of those compares to this," she said fingering the necklace that still hung from around her neck, "but…" she stopped short as Nikola was standing in front of her looking down at her, "Alice, those gifts were wonderful. Though I still am not sure about that book, but the watch is wonderful, so please don't degrade yourself." He said forcing her to look at him.

Alice stared at Nikola for a moment, before she did something that seven months ago she never thought she would do. She reached up and kissed Nikola Tesla. That contact only lasted a few seconds, but the second their lips touched a shock ran through her body.

Nikola pulled back after that shock and stared at her. "Nikola, I…" she stopped the second she saw his eyes. His eyes that normally sparkled in the light seemed nearly dead. "Why did you do that?" he asked his voice void of any emotion. "I don't know why," Alice said tears beginning to form in her eyes. Nikola looked at her sternly, "That can never happen again," he said. Alice could have sworn that his tone was laced with stress, like it took all he had to say those words. "Why not," she asked.

Alice watched cautiously as Nikola clenched and unclenched his fists. "Vampire remember," Nikola started, "I don't age, I can never die." "So, who cares," Alice replied angrily. Nikola sighed before continuing, "Alice, you humans, you wither and die. Can you imagine watching someone you…." He trailed off. Alice understood, but something in her refused to believe that he didn't have feelings for her.

"Then turn me," she said. Nikola, who had looked down at his feet after his last comment, looked her dead in the eyes.

"What?" he asked, his voice suddenly cold.

"Turn me," she said again. Nikola looked at her seriously.

"You don't mean that," he said. Alice looked Nikola dead in the eyes and removed a pin from her hair.

"Of course I do," she said using the bear end of the pin to prick her finger and let only a few drops of blood escape. Nikola's eyes began to turn black at the smell of blood, it had been years since he had tasted the genuine article, donor blood could only provide so much, and oh how she smelled, like a fine wine that was perfectly aged and something else. She smelled of something that Nikola had only smelled once before, but couldn't quite place. He stepped closer to her.

"It's not that simple," he said pressing his handkerchief to her finger. Alice looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She cried herself to sleep that night, and Nikola sat up wondering what he had done.

* * *

A/N: Hi Everyone- I hope you enjoyed the Christmas Special. Just to let ya'll know for copyright sake- portions of this chapter is based on Anastasia/Pretty Woman/ and Doctor Who. Also- special shout outs will be added to the next chapter for those of you how review/tell me why Alice's blood seems familiar to Nikola. Oh, and it might be awhile before I write the next chapter. I have to catch up with my Merlin fic, and i'm working on editing the entirety of this, which takes a awhile.

Other than that- ya'll know the drill...


	8. We're Off to See the Vampires

Chapter 8

The days following Christmas passed slowly for Alice and Nikola. The pair seemed in a constant state of walking on eggshells when around each other. In fact, they spent little time with each other. Alice occupied the time with long walks around the museums of Belgrade, while Nikola spent his time in the hotel bar drinking their stores of wine. When they spent time together, normally before Alice went to sleep at night, the air was tense and neither talked. After nearly a week in Belgrade, Nikola broke the silence between the two.

"Alice, it's time to move on." He said softly as Alice was getting ready for bed. She looked over at him from the open bathroom door and glared.

"I was thinking about going home," Nikola continued moving closer to Alice who was brushing her wet hair. Alice rolled her eyes and looked at Nikola in the mirror.

"Technically you are home," she said. Nikola took his turn to roll his eyes.

"That's not what I mean. I was thinking it's about time to visit Bhalasaam" he said turning his back to the mirror and leaning against the counter.

Alice stopped what she was doing and stared at Nikola's back in the mirror. "Bhalasaam?" she asked stumbling over the pronunciation.

"The last city of the sanguine vampiris," Nikola said as if that was all the explanation she needed.

"So, off to Transylvania?" Alice asked only half joking. Nikola gave Alice a hard glare.

"No Alice, India, a remote northern region to be precise," he said simply reaching out to play with a stand of Alice's hair. Alice smacked Nikola's hand away when it came within millimeters of her wet hair.

"Guess I need to stock up on food and water then," Alice said sliding past Nikola. He nodded, "don't forget some wine," he said trying to make a joke. Alice ignored him and lay down to sleep. Nikola walked over to the bed where Alice lay.

"Alright then, we're leaving tomorrow at noon," Nikola whispered into Alice's ear. Alice groaned and rolled away from Nikola taking the covers with her. Nikola chuckled and left the room to find something to eat.

* * *

The following morning Alice woke early, packed her things, and left the suite to food shop. First Alice stopped at what seemed to be the local drug store purchased basic hygiene products, and some junk food. The following three hours were spent going from store to store buying provisions for this trip including wine for Nikola. After each purchase, Alice would find a quite alley and shrink the purchases and piled them into her bag.

By the time Alice returned to the suite it was around 11:30, she was certain she had enough food to last at least a few weeks, and some plastic plates, cups, and utensils to use. Alice then set about packing all of the food related items into one large shipping box. She knew that no matter how they were traveling to this Bhalasaam, the food would need a box or crate; plastic bags wouldn't work on the security people.

It was around this point, when Alice realized that she hadn't seen Nikola since the previous day. Great, the pair of them were supposed to be leaving town, and he decided to go do something, typical Nikola.

Instead of trying to find the missing vampire, Alice stayed in the room sitting quietly and pretending she didn't exist. Since it was nearly lunchtime, however, she did take the time to order lunch from room service.

Finally, Nikola appeared in the suite, he seemed ruffled, not the usually put together man Alice knew. "Let go Alice," he said quietly. Alice tried to resist rolling her eyes. "Give me a minute," she said collecting her purchases.

Two hours later the pair sat in a train car heading to northern India. Alice liked the idea of riding of train instead of a plane. The trip would give her time to think, time to figure out what her life was. After that kiss, everything seemed to change. She never knew that urge was there, until Nikola was standing right I front of her that night. Of course, looking back there had been signs, the clichéd fluttering in her stomach, her heart beating faster when Nikola was close, all of which Alice ignored. That night, he was just so close, Alice lost control.

Alice tried to sneak a glance across the train car at Nikola. As her eyes reached his shape, his eyes locked onto hers, and Alice whipped her head away. Nikola audibly sighed, "how long are you going to act like a teenage girl?"

Alice looked back at Nikola and felt the urge to smack him. "Nikola, how long are you going to have that stick stuck up your ass?"

There was a light "ahem," from the door of the compartment. Alice and Nikola looked over at the door where the conductor stood. In a thick accent the man asked first in English, then French, and finally German for their tickets and passports. Both handed over their travel papers, and waited. The conductor smiled and told the pair to enjoy their train ride.

As the conductor left the compartment, Nikola stood up, "well, I don't know about you, but I think a trip to the dining car would do wonders." Alice rolled her eyes and pulled what appeared to be a roasted meat sandwich and a bag of jellybeans. "Suit yourself, but I hear the goulash on this train is to die for," Nikola said with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Nikola, go already." Alice said angrily throwing a few of the beans at him.

When Nikola returned to the car nearly two hours later, he found Alice asleep on the bench seat. "Sleep well Alice," he whispered thankful for a chance alone to think.

What had she been thinking kissing him. Alice should have known that he couldn't commit to anything. He was a vampire for god sake, the last true one. Alice knew about vampires, about their lifespans. It was that which made Nikola question everything. "I love Helen," he whispered trying to reassure himself. It didn't' seem to work, because the minute his thoughts left Helen, they returned to Alice.

The night she kissed him, Alice had been willing to give up everything. Nikola had never seen someone so willing to do anything, except his four friends back at Oxford. But, that was something he found interesting about her, her impulsive commitment to things. Still the scent of her blood lingered in his thoughts, that scent that seemed so familiar and yet so foreign.

Of course, he assumed that the strange scent in her blood came from the magical aspect. Alice explained that the magical community didn't understand where their power came from. Some believed it was genetic, dominate genes that when expressed allowed the person to control their bodily energy. Others believed that magical power came from will alone, that a person had to be strong enough to manipulate their energy of their own will. Alice, Nikola quickly learned, was a proponent of the genetic theory. It accounted for both the entire spectrum of magical beings, muggleborn to pure blood. The only thing the genetic anomalies were the squibs, which Nikola laughed at, saying that people marrying their cousins even ends well.

Nikola remembered Alice's laugh, he hadn't heard that musical twinkling since Christmas. This last week had been hard, not talking to the one person who seemed to completely accept him for who he was.

Suddenly the train stopped sending Nikola out of his seat. He picked himself up from the compartment floor and dusted himself off. As Nikola looked out the window, he realized they had arrived. He sighed heavily and went to wake Alice.

"Alice, get up. We've arrived." Nikola said shaking Alice. Alice woke up and almost died, Nikola was standing there inches from her, so close and yet unattainable. She sat up and thanked Nikola for waking her up.

From the train the pair moved themselves and their luggage into a van Nikola rented from an agency. Of course Alice drove. Nikola directed her to what Alice called the boonies, or "the freaking middle of nowhere".

After hours of driving Nikola and Alice arrived at the base of a huge mountain on the border between India and Nepal. Nikola stepped of the van and walked to the mountain. He pressed one of his hands to mountain wall. Alice watched as a doorway opened at the base of the mountain. Nikola motioned for Alice to follow him in the van. She pulled in carefully and followed Nikola's figure to an underground room.

As soon as Alice turned off the car and got out, Nikola grabbed her hand. Alice felt an obvious heat creep into her checks and tried desperately to erase the blush from her cheeks. When Nikola released Alice's hand they had reached the center of what Alice assumed was a maze. From there, he led the way up a small tunnel that ended in bright light. Once Alice emerged, she found herself amidst ruins that would rival any roman fort in England.

"Welcome to Bhalasaam," Nikola said with a cheeky grin.

* * *

A/N: Yay, its done. Sorry it took so long to update, I've been on streak writing my Narnia story, but here it is! Next time will be the start of the end of Season 1. Fun Time! Until then: read, review, repeat!


	9. Fancy Meeting You Here

A/N: Holy Stawsack Batman! its been nearly six months since I've updated, and we've hit the one year anniversary of this story's first publication. I'm sorry it's take so long to update. School, and other stories got in the way. But, there new stuff now! I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 9

Nikola and Alice spent weeks in the labyrinth underneath Bhalasamm. Nikola seemed to know his way around, so Alice tended to stick to him. It meant that they were forced to make up, and fast. However, that episode wasn't without its share of yelling.

"Nikola, stop treating me like I'm a china doll," Alice had yelled at him after a comment about what areas of the labyrinth were off limits. "I'm not," Nikola said trying to force his anger down.

'Yes you are, Nikki. Why can't you treat me like you used to? You remember, I'm your friend and a witch." Alice said. Nikola looked at her hard, "I can't treat you like I used to because if I get too close, I might just attack you." Alice took a step closer to Nikola and reprimanded him, "we've been over this Nikola. There are ways to rectify that." Nikola rolled his eyes at Alice. "We've been over this Alice," he said mimicking her, "You've seen what happens to the vampires I create."

Alice nodded taking another step closer, "I've seen what happens to people you turn, and I really don't care." Nikola took a step back, into a wall. Alice smirked and took another step closer, "Are you afraid of little old me Nikki?" Nikola audibly gulped at the closeness between the two. _Petrificus Totalus_, the spell bounced off the walls around Nikola as he felt his limbs stick to his body.

"There, you see. If you tried to attack me, I can just petrify you," Alice said muttering the counter curse. Nikola straightened himself up testing his limbs to make sure they still functioned. Alice let out a laugh at the Nikola's shocked expression. "I told you I could stop you," Alice smiled at the vampire and with a small pop Alice vanished. Nikola shook his head, cracking his neck slightly in the process. She was apparating more frequently now that they were alone in the labyrinth.

Nikola walked off toward the center of the labyrinth where Helen's father had left his little puzzle. He had spent hours poring over it trying to figure out how to retrieve the source blood without the rest of the Five. So far he was unsuccessful. Hell, he couldn't even get past his own task let alone attempting the other four tasks. Of course he had thought about asking Alice for help. Magic might have been able to help him, but that would mean revealing his master plan to her and that was a compromise he was unwilling to make. There was simply too much at stake.

Nikola heard Alice's tell-tale pop as she appeared beside him. "What is it?" he asked anger lacing through his voice. "Someone is in Bhalasamm," she said not looking as him, "From the feel, I'd say a group of five." "And you know this how?" Tesla asked through gritted teeth. "When we got here, I put wards up around the labyrinth. That way we'd know if we had visitors," Alice said finally looking back at Nikola. Nikola grabbed Alice be her arm to reprimand her for doing something without his knowledge. But as he did a number of voices began to echo off the walls nearby. Instead Nikola pulled Alice down one of the smaller tunnels hiding from the group.

Alice tried to scream as Nikola pulled her, but his hand clamped down tightly over her mouth. A group of five people entered the chamber. Alice and Tesla could clearly make out the voices of Helen Magnus and Will.

"Why would the vampire build a cavem beneath a hidden city? Seems kind of redundant, don't you think?" Will's voice asked. Alice rolled her eyes at the man, for someone so smart he was oblivious. Helen's voice answered him "Well even though they were the rulers, the overlords? They advanced civilization by centuries. Their knowledge, their technology, was far more advanced than anyone could've imagined back then." Alice stuck her head out from their hiding place to examine the situation. All five had their backs to the corridor where Alice and Nikola were hiding.

Nikola smirked at Alice before tip-toeing out of the corridor. Another man Alice didn't know spoke up, "So they kept their secrets well hidden." He sounded condesecening, but his accent was queer, it was almost like listening to her grandfather.

Then a familiar voice reached Alice's ears. "Well they knew the world would turn against them, John. They would have calculated for the possibility that Bhalasaam might one day be found and pillaged," this man said. Alice smiled hearing the familiar logical speech and thought processes. She stepped out from the corridor and stayed behind Tesla. Sure enough, her old mentor was standing there, but there were two people Alice had not met. A tall bald man in a black leather jacket seemed to glower at and a girl with dark hair and eyes that held a fire, Alice was not unfamiliar with.

"Lest their wealth of knowledge fall into the wrong hands," Nikola said turning the attention to the group to him and Alice, "Miss me?" Alice rolled her eyes. "Why do you have to be so narcissistic?" Alice asked as the bald man moved forward. "John," Helen called looking between to the two men. Alice too, moved between Nikola and John. "Alice" the man with salt and pepper hair asked as he reached his hand shot out to restrain this John.

"Hey ya Watson. Long time no see," Alice said smiling at him. Nikola looked at Alice in disbelief. "Oh I know he's difficult to kill but I'm sure there are ways," the bald man said. "You'll have to go through me first," Alice said, the red coloring leaking through her hair and eyes. "That can be arranged," John said moving to phase through her. "I wouldn't try that if I were you," Watson said, "you won't like her when she's angry." It was Helen's turn to look at Watson in disbelief. "You never told me about knowing her," she said. Alice's hair was completely red by this time.

John moved to attack Nikola phasing past Alice. However just as John dematerialized he rematerialized. "I warned you," Alice said tossing a fire ball back and forth between her hands. Watson shook his head watching the girl. Nikola poked his head up from behind Alice, "Are you going to kill me before or after you retrieve the blood? Because, frankly, good luck with that if I'm dead. You know you can't do this without me."

Alice looked over her shoulder at Nikola her red eyes, "Nikola, shut up. Or I'll make sure you die the second this is over." "I like her…."John said moving closer.

Helen tired of the scene stepped forward toward Nikola. Alice let her past. "Why are you here Nikola," Helen asked. "Isn't it obvious? The Cabal want to turn the world into a war zone, only the ancient blood can stop it. Yes, I do keep abreast of current events thank you," Nikola answered stepping out from behind Alice. Alice looked at the vampire projecting her thoughts into his mind momentarily. "When exactly have you left this compound in the last few weeks. I would have known." Nikola smirked

Watson rolled his eyes at the young witch. "Yet, you didn't answer our communiqué, Tesla," Watson said gauging the vampire's reaction. "Communiqué? I received no such thing," Nikola said rather defiantly. Watson's gaze shifted to Alice giving her a knowing look. She shrugged, "an unfortunate side-effect of magic. Mundane things never seem to work as well." Will looked at Alice with mild surprise, "oh and the point-me spell did work either? Good, I wasn't sure if I cast all the wards right," Alice said a smirk in her voice.

"My dear James, you're looking older. Feeling your age?" Nikola asked trying to shift the focus from Alice to himself. "Ever the gentleman, I see," Watson responded without blinking. Tesla looked past Watson at Will and the girl. "And what have we here?" he asked surveying the two additional members of the group. "I'm guessing the girl is a blood relative of Griffin," he said ignoring Will. "Damn straight I am skinny," the girl answered. Alice glared at the girl the fireball in her hands growing larger. " I like her," Nikola said more for Alice's benefit then the others.

"And if it isn't your little protégé, Helen. I though you would have left him at home. Then again every mission does need it's red shirt," he said completely ignoring Will. "Stop this Nikola. You know what we're facing, why not make contact?" Helen asked.

Alice rolled her eyes, "Magnus, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but its not like this place has a telephone. Not that it would work if we did." Nikola rolled his eyes, sometimes Alice's sarcasm grated his nerves. "Normally I would prefer to work alone, or most alone," he said glancing at the still red haired Alice, "secondly, I don't trust any of you any more than you trust me. That's why we skipped orientation." Nikola gestured between himself and Alice.

"How did you get down here then," asked Watson. "There's an entrance on the far side of the mountain; just have to know where to look for it. Which I do." Nikola said. Alice, her hair slowly returning to its normal brown colour, slapped the arrogant vampire upside the head. "Come on chickes," she said in a sing-song voice turning down a tunnel.


	10. Off to get some blood and save the world

A/N: yay! finally updated. Read and Review soon please!

* * *

Chapter 10

Nikola and Alice led the band through the corridors, Nikola running his mouth as usual.

"Ah! Magnificent, isn't it? All that remains of my ancestors, their work. Ten thousand years of knowledge and power hidden from the world," Nikola said as though a tour guide.

"Nikki, they didn't come for the guided tour, get on with it," Alice said. "Nikki?" John asked from behind them. Nikola rolled his eyes at Alice for using that name in front of John.

"You've been coming here for decades, haven't you," Magnus said, "This is where you got the idea to revive vampires as a race." Nikola stopped, stopping Alice with him forcing both of them to turn and face the party. He reached up above her touching the light fixture, causing it and the others around it to sputter to life.

"Your father, he did his job well. Despite me best efforts, we can only retrieve the blood as one. None of us can do it alone," he said sternly ignoring Alice's stunned expression. John smirked as he saw the young woman blanch as Nikola's words.

"Tell me, Nikola, if we do succeed, will you allow us to take it away? We know you have wonderful designs for it, an army of new-born vampires being just the start," John teased. Alice glared at Nikola hard, red seeping into her eyes for the second time in an hour. "Vampires, Nikola," she said folding her arms across chest.

"I may want to see my ancestors reborn but that can't happen if the abnormals become a global threat to humans. None of us could withstand the chaos that that would bring," Nikola said defending himself, "OK? But tell me, John, are the rest of us to trust you once all is said and done? You, who once put your own daughter in harm's way for just a drop of Helen's blood. Oh, yes having that vial all to your self would solve your health problems for a long time, wouldn't it?"

"Gentlemen, we are here for a reason. Nikola, live are at stake," Magnus interjected. Nikola sighed, "this way;" before leading the group along another tunnel. Alice held back not wanting to be so close to her arrogant vampire friend.

"He never told you the real plan did he," Watson asked as John helped him along. Alice looked over at her mentor a sad smile on her face.

"Since when does Nikola share his secrets with anyone," she asked offering her shoulder for extra support. "I could fix this if you like," Alice said not looking at her mentor's face. When Watson did not respone Alice took it as a silent no.

Ahead of them Alice could see the new girl and Will chatting amongst themselves, until the girl spoke up. "Think place goes on forever," she said constantly turning her head to take it all in.

"It's a labyrinth. It's designed to keep valuable secrets from those who would steal them," Magnus explained.

"Was that aimed at me," Nikola asked from ahead of everyone else.

"Of course it was Nikki," Alice called from the back of the group. The two Johns snickered as they continued forward.

Eventually they came to a cavernous room with a pedestal in the exact center. Alice had been in this room before. It was the exact center of the labyrinth, or so Nikola said . The pedestal was decorated with a pentagram design with slots for keys in each. Around the rim roman numerals sat forming the outer triangles of the pentagram. Everyone gathered around it and stared for a moment. Then Will spoke up. "Is it some sort of a numeric code?"

Magnus' eyes light up in recognition. "My mother's birthday," she said pressing the numbers, "my father's favorite password." Alice tried really hard to keep her comment about passwords to herself. The center of the pedestal began to move revealing a scroll. Magnus grabbed it, unrolling it so everyone could see it.

"It's his handwriting," she said, her eyes getting brighter by the second.

"Latin," Will asked from over her shoulder.

"His favorite language," Magnus replied. Alice rolled her eyes from behind Watson.

"It's a caveat addressed to all five of us. It's a warning; the blood should only be sought by all of us or not at all," Watson said, as he was the fastest translator in the bunch.

"And only for altruistic reasons," Magnus added.

"Well, saving civilization from chaos and war seems worthy, but he's your father," Nikola said. Alice moved behind him smacking him upside the head. He whipped around and glared at her.

"What did I do to deserve that," he asked. "What did I say about those kinds of comments back in Italy," she asked folding her arms across her chest. "To not make them," Nikola said rubbing the back of his head. "Good boy," Alice said patting his head. The others gave the pair a strange look before turning back to Helen.

"It's a map of the labyrinth," Helen said. Alice groaned. "If you wanted a bloody map, I made one weeks ago," she said pulling a map out of her pocket. Watson and John looked at her, almost giving her looks of approval.

"Look there are five notations here," Will said. Alice groaned again, her map didn't have the makings that one did.

"Five tests, each has one of our names beside it," Waston said. Alice waved her hand over her map whispering a copy-me spell, so her map would have those markings also.

"What kind of tests," the extra girl asked.

"They're designed specifically for each of our gifts, impenetrable to anyone else," Magnus said, "My father knew that in order to prevent anyone of us from trying to access the blood alone, he had to use the technology the vampires left behind to safeguard their secrets."

"and even you couldn't find a way around that," Will said looking over at Nikola.

"I know, nervous yet?" Nikola asked. Alice rolled her eyes. She knew when each task was, what they entailed. There had to be ways around at least some of them, it all hinged on what spell she picked.

"At the end of each test there's a key. Once we have the five keys…." Waston started.

"We can access the vial. My father loved the metaphor of keys he saw them as symbols for the unlocking of secrets." Magnus finished.

"We can assume none of these tasks will be simple and easy," John said looking slightly nervous.

"Knowing my father, absolutely. May I?" Magnus asked Watson for the map.

"Of course," Waston said handing it over. Behind her Alice was making copies of her map so everyone could have one. They're incinerate once they left the labyrinth. Well, all except her own. "Here," She said once the spell was finished holding out a map to both Watson and Will.

"Will, take Clara to Griffin's test, that's here," Magnus said indicating to a passage in the Northern area of the labyrinth.

"Waston, yours and John's markers are close together. I know, work as a team. We'll meet back here with our keys," she continued looking at the groups.

"That leave you and Nikola; your tests are marked for the same area," John grumbled looking at the map in Waston's hand.

"I guess your father liked us best as a couple," Nikola said smirking. He flinched slightly as he saw Alice move from Watson's side.

"Helen, if you can wait I'll…" John started.

"I'll be fine," Magnus countered not even letting him finish.

"Such chivalry," Nikola teased trying to get a reaction from John.

"If any harm comes to her, accidental or otherwise," John said menacingly.

"I have no reason to do her any harm but you, I'm finding more reasons by the minute," Nikola countered.

"Honestly! I'm surrounded by adolescents!" Magnus yelled frustrated.

"Join the club," Alice said, "Maybe we can have t-shirts."

The two women looked between John and Nikola, who were glaring at each other.

"Come on Nikki. The world isn't going to save itself," Alice said pulling the vampire by his ear.

"Lets go," Will said from the other side of the room. Heads nodded in agreement as the group broke in to two pairs and a triplet heading in opposing directions.

Alice, who'd initially started off with Nikola paused a second before turning and running to help John with Watson. "Alice," Nikola called after her.

"Let her go Nikola, she'll be back." Magnus said forcing Nikola to remember the goal at hand.

Alice reached John and Watson before they'd gotten all that far. She took her spot under Watson's left arm helping him hobble along the corridor.

"I'm surprised you didn't go with Tesla," John said from across Watson. Alice said nothing, opting instead to use a little wandless magic to smack John.

"Ow," the tall man said stopping the trio as he dealt with the pain. Watson looked down at the girl helping him. She feigned a sly smile hinting at guilt, but not at the same time.

As the trio reached John and Watson's task, Alice relinquished her place beside Watson before moving away from them picturing Nikola in her head. "Catch you on the flipside," she said before disappearing with a pop. On the other end of the labyrinth she reappeared. She rematerialized before screaming in pain, as what felt like a million volts surged through her body.

"Alice," Nikola cried as he walked through the tunnel roaring in pain himself. He stopped and picked her up tossing her out of the tunnel toward Magnus. He kept waking as Magnus looked the girl over. As he reached the key he turned back to look at the pair of women waiting at the other end.

"She has a pulse, but her breathing is almost nonexistent. She needs a hospital Nikola," Magnus yelled.

"You're father really didn't like me did he," Nikola asked looking at the girl at Magnus's feet.

"You're an acquired taste," she said looking at the girl once again.

Nikola started the journey back, walking faster this time, desperate to reach Alice. He collapsed as he exited the tunnel, holding up his key to Magnus, before crawling to where Alice lay. "mmmm, you felt genuine concern for me. Admit it," he said cradling Alice to him.

"Nonsense," Magnus said, "I'm much more worried about Alice, than I am about you."

"Oh, You still like me, it's so obvious," Nikola said trying to choke out a laugh.

"You tried to kill me," Magnus said a look of disbelief on his face.

"Yeah, but you now, we all hurt the ones we love," he said looking down at Alice. He could hear her heart getting slower, "your turn." The pair stood up, Nikola carrying Alice like a sleeping child, and began making their way down the corridor. At a turn in the corridor the pair came to a stop. Helen walked toward the spyglass looking object pushing a button underneath it that extended the object allowing it to extend farther. She put her eye to the device. Something clicked in the wall behind it allowing a doorway to open.

"Not much of a test," Magnus said stepping into the room.  
"You always were a daddy's girl," Telsa said, "just hurry up."

He watched helplessly at the door closed in front of him.

"Helen!" he called pounding on the door. He stopped when he remembered that Alice was lying on her death bed just beside him.

Nikola stood holding Alice for only a few minutes when the door opened to reveal Helen, key in hand.

"Nice, but I think somebody must've screwed up," he said as the pair took off running toward the main room.

As they arrived so did the others. They looked around the room holding up their keys.

"Well done. Shall we?" Magnus asked. Watson looked over at Alice, who was still held in Nikola's arms. He smiled at the two, as The Five moved forward to place their keys into the slots on the pedestal.

"Where is it," Watson asked once all the keys were in place. It took a few seconds, but soon the sound of stone against stone had the group turning their heads. As the vial was revealed Nikola inhaled smelling the life blood of his ancestors. Then something clicked that hadn't clicked after months of pondering.

"Magnus, do you have a syringe?" Nikola asked as she moved to retrieve the blood. "I have an epipen, and some morphine syringes," she said as the rest eyed the blood.

"Get one out," Nikola said ripping the sleeve of Alice's shirt.

"Wait, is that it? That's the blood," Clara exclaimed as Will dug through his pack for a syringe.

"What is going on Nikola," John asked stepping forward to block Magnus' path.

"Alice is dying. She got caught in my test," Nikola said grabbing the sterile syringe from Will and empting it of the morphine.

"How is the ancient blood going to help," Will asked as Nikola stuck the syringe into the vial taking 500 cc of blood. Watson's eyes widened in realization.

"She has the vampire gene," he said. The three other members of the five turned to look at him. Nikola did not flinch as the needle sank into the soft skin of Alice's inner arm. He silently prayed that this would work.

"How would you know that Nikola," Watson asked at everyone watched the small brunette's body.

"She wanted me to turn her," Nikola said, his gaze not leaving Alice. "She sliced her hand open right in front of me to get me to do it," he continued, "I smelled it that night, its just been so long since I smell another like me." Watson walked forward placing a hand on his shoulder. Nikola closed his eyes for a moment, a hand coming to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry. I'll see this through; antivirus and all," Nikola assured Magnus.  
The group looked at each other as John began to teleport them all away. He teleported Alice and Nikola last, dropping them in one of the bedrooms in the Sanctuary.

Nikola carried Alice to the infirmary, before heading to the lab to work. Watson sat by her bedside willing her to wake.

A small pop echoed through the Sanctuary, causing everyone to rush toward the infirmary. There in the chair beside Alice's bed sat Watson looking his real age.

"Oh my god, what happened," Magnus asked trying to help him.

"The inevitable, I'm afraid," Watson answered.

"The suit, it's stopped working," Helen said.

"It's been failing for some time. It hasn't really worked since we left for India. I knew that this was a mission I would not return from. It was worth one last challenge, Helen," Watson answered.

"You, I shall miss," Watson said pointing at Helen, "Tell her I tried." He pointed this time to Alice. "She's the best," he said trying to ignore Helen's crying.  
"William, William...there... There is something that we are not seeing. This was too easy. There is something else happening, something going on that we're not seeing. You must find the missing piece,""

What? What is it? What's the missing piece?" Will asked.

"Find it," Watson said, closing his eyes.

John moved Watson's body to the mortuary, while Clara took up the post at Alice's bedside. She looked at Nikola who seemed reluctant to leave. "Go, I'm not going to let anything happen to her," Clara said. Will pulled up another chair sitting beside the two pondering what Watson had told him.

As Magnus left the room her phone started to ring.

"So you're supposed to say, "Hey, Clara, you did great. Way to conquer your fears." Clara said looking over at Will.

"I'm sorry, I'm just...thinking about stuff. You did do great," Will said looking back at her. Neither noticed Alice's finger twitch.

"Thanks for taking off your pants." Clara laughed.

"You never have to thank me for that," Will joked. Beside him, Alice's fingers were now tapping out a rhythm.

"Wow. I can't believe this place. I...I thought I was a one-off, a freak," Clara said.

"Clara, why don't you stay here? Just for a while, just to see what it's like to be part of something?" Will suggested.

"Yeah, I... I don't know. Being connected to places and people, it's not really my style," Clara said glancing at the video camera.

"Well, that's because neither was accepting of who you are. I think that's going to change," Will said leaning over to kiss Clara.

As they broke apart Will froze. "What is it, Will?" Clara asked.

"Something Watson said before he died, about it all being too easy, that we'd missed something," Will said.

"We got the blood. Seems like a win to me." Clara answered.

"Yeah but I can't just shake the feeling that he's right, that there's something else going on that we just can't see," Will said pinching the bridge of his nose hard.

"I have to talk to Magnus. ," Will said rushing out of the room.

Up in the lab, Magnus and Nikola were busy working on the anti-virus, until something flashed in Magnus's periphery, stopping her work. She turned around, "Nikola."

The source blood was gone as if someone has swiped it from the table when their backs were turned.

One of the monitors behind the pair beeped to life, Henry's face appeared. "Doc, the drive we brought back it's all ghost data. There's no codes, no input, nothing we can use. Doc?"

Helen rushed out looking for the only person she knew who could do what she'd seen. She entered the library looking for John. "Isn't this just like you? Steal what we need the most then stick around to gloat." She accused pointing a gun at him.

"I have been here the whole time," John said sipping from the glass of brandy in his hand.

"Magnus! Magnus," Will said out of breath. "The whole thing was a set-up."

"We're too late," Magnus cried.

Down in the infirmary Alice opened her eyes. When Clara's back was fully turned she thought of Nikola and apperated to him. As she appeared in front of him she smirked, "Miss me honey?" Nikola gaped at the woman in front of him. The blood had not changed her appearance all that much, although her hair now held a more noticeable red tint to it. Nikola reached forward crashing his lips to hers. They stayed like that until Magnus returned from the lab.


End file.
